Tue, 24 Apr 2018 22:54:04 -0500WeeblyMon, 04 Dec 2017 22:02:40 GMThttp://www.ludicrousones.com/blog/music-blog-an-evening-with-dya​For a change of pace, we're running a little Q&A here with the amazing Dya, whose contributions to The Bounty: Deluxe Edition have really (In my honest opinion) elevated the game to a higher level. I'm personally a huge fan, so this is just as fun a thing to do for me as it is any of you. Anyway, let's start!

So, for a little background, how did you get started in music, and down the path that you've gone?​Oh man. tough question. I think it must have been back in the late 80s - when I was barely old enough to walk. My mother was a pianist for the church - so we had an old hand me down piano at home I used to mess around on. I also remember us having a Yamaha PSS-270 keyboard around that time. I absolutely LOVED all the unique sounds it could produce. Video games and RPGs were also a huge part of my childhood. I remember us having a Sega CD and a copy of Lunar. I would often just sit and listen to the amazing orchestral score.

Sometime around 1997 I started playing trombone, joined band and learned to read sheet music - but piano was always my main instrument. At some point I took piano lessons, and playing piano and organ for church. I also began dabbling in music production on PC with programs like Jeskola Buzz, Fast Tracker 2, and Anvil Studio. To be honest - my sound design was terrible! But I got better (I swear).

As the years have progressed, I've developed my own chiptune and VGM sound using various trackers and DAWs such as Renoise / Reaper / Deflemask and Famitracker.

Could you describe a bit of the creative process that went into writing and recording the tracks in the game?

Absolutely. I had a specific mood in mind for each track to reflect the "game within a game" cyberpunk aspect of The Bounty. For each track I would sit at my piano and start vamping on various chord progressions until something stuck. I then took these ideas and translated them into songs using Renoise and Reaper.

Perilous Journey - Title Theme - was my personal take on the rain-drenched dystopian future of Blade Runner's Las Angeles mixed with a little bit of Jan Hammer and Miami Vice. I wanted the track to sound "futuristic" by way of the 80s but also organic - so using synths of that era - like the Yamaha DX7 and Mini Moog mixed with more acoustic elements like bongos and piano.

Chamber of Echoes- This was the first track I composed for the game and honestly - it totally started out as an accidental homage to Crystal Teardrops from the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night OST! I wanted to make something that sounded like an underground cavern. It's also one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Beyond that - you've got it all here - trip hop , deep acoustic sounding bass, and sultry jazz instrumentation - rhodes electric piano, flute, trumpet etc. My pal Jisun Hughes did a phenomenal job on the trumpet solo at the end as well!

The Weapon - Speaking of solos! I wrote this song envisioning the music of Tron and the game Flashback from the 90s. Another killer solo - this time from my guitar shredding pal Jesse Jensen (th4 D34D) who is fantastic composer in his own right. ​

I can't honestly pick a favorite that you did here- but if there is one, it's probably the main theme, "Perilous Journey". It's like an adventure in itself, and to me captures the game's whole sci-fi-lite premise. Is there a track in here that you're especially proud of, or just stands out for any reason?

It's hard to chose! But I think I personally like Chamber of Echoes the most because of the different transitions and solos throughout. I'm also a sucker for trumpet!

You're a busy man- besides being a huge part of this game's soundtrack and doing the music for Bug Attack! (also coming soon to Steam), you have a staggering body of work. Mind sharing a bit about what you have going on right now, and maybe what's next?

​Alright, that'll do it for now! I'll come back next time with a bit about the music Fred Capps and I did, and then go into SFX work!

Thanks for reading, dear players.-Dave

]]>Mon, 27 Nov 2017 21:11:25 GMThttp://www.ludicrousones.com/blog/dlc-microtransactions-paywalls-whats-the-dealThis has been a pretty hot-button topic at least since the infamous horse armor in Oblivion. EA's new Star Wars Battlefront II is the most recent high profile offender; though criticism has been leveled at most everyone at some point over the past several years.

I'd like to talk about it a little- but first I want to lay out my personal approach.The Bounty: Deluxe Edition has a LOT of post-launch content updates coming. It's all stuff that I'd like to have in day one, but time just doesn't allow.

It's all coming for FREE. Here's why. First of all, it's what I want to do, and it feels like the right thing to do. I love it when a developer adds stuff to the games I enjoy- and doesn't ask for anything in return. It gives an impression like, "Man, these cats really care about this thing they've built." It keeps me personally invested. Secondly, my overhead is low. I'm just one dude. So I keep these updates coming, keep the game really alive, keep attracting new players; and keep the older ones involved. It's good for everyone, and for the game that I've invested so many years in.

Here's the Schedule-

Winter '17-'18Endless Dungeon Level Pack 1New Player Skins

Spring '18 #1Extra Episode 1New Dungeon SkinNew Player Skins

Spring '18 #2Endless Dungeon Level Pack 2

Summer '18Extra Episode 2????????

Fall '18Endless Dungeon Level Pack 3????????

The first year's updates will effectively double the amount of content to be found at launch. Some of these are already partially finished. The Endless Dungeon's framework is built in a way that all I really have to do is make new maps, and plug in the array of events, and voila. Level pack. So yeah, it's a LOT of stuff... but I'm not going to kill myself getting it out. If I were a big company, a lot more would be at stake.

Paid DLC, is it that bad?

Sometimes, yes. Let's say that right now. There's a lot of skeezy stuff out there, man. So, when is it ok? This depends on you, but my threshold seems to be about where it's definitely value added, and wasn't just present content locked behind a paywall. This can get tricky though, right? In Capcom's case with Street Fighter X Tekken, they had character files on the disc itself, which became available for purchase later on. I was ok with this, but why? The assets were built, yeah... but fully testing, balancing, and integrating characters in a fighting game? That's the real work, so I was happy to pay there. There are a lot of people in these companies that work very hard; games are overall cheaper than ever too, so how do they keep this thing going? Paid DLC is definitely one way.

What if a game launches, and on day one there's DLC available for extra levels or something? Are you ok with that? Did they have a assign a separate team to get that content built and ready? It's hard to say, but I'd like to hear YOUR opinions.

I often long for the "good old days", when you bought the cartridge and that was it. The game was in your hands already, totally complete. I also look back very fondly at good old PC game expansion packs, which I mean... were well packaged DLC. On the other hand, these streamlined additions are cool. Not having to buy 3 versions of Street Fighter, but just adding the new content. Diablo 3 is hardly the same experience as when it first launched. The fact that I can release a game... and keep adding to well after launch is special to me.

There are abusers, and that is not ok. I can't just dismiss the concept because of a few bad apples, but that's me.

​ This will be a short piece, I promise. The graphics are pretty much the least important part of this game from my standpoint- so besides some neat simple things and the (awesome) monster sprites, there isn't much to say! (famous last words)

General Design Generally speaking, the look and feel are really simple. Very deliberate, edged map layouts. Very plain "textures" to keep the player focused on the action and inconsistencies/clues. Lots of breaks in patterns for small levels, with a mix of clear and subtle landmarks or "tells" for larger ones.

All of the visuals adhere to a pixelated 16 bit standard. This means 15 colors + transparency maximum, a 4:3 viewing area, and size consistent with the era. Where we did cheat a bit is with the dynamic lighting! The effect is just cool and easy to implement for a number of things from torches to Bonus Level collectibles, so that's what stuck. ;)

Simple, yet effective!

​Non-Standard. One of the more distinguishable parts in The Bounty Deluxe are the multitude of player and dungeon skins. Using a in-game items (and sometimes passwords) you can change your character's appearance and the style of the game's graphics. Some are based on gaming history, some on backers, and some are plain silly- but there's a variety. A lot more will be coming with the free game updates, so there should definitely be options for everybody.

There's a LOT more where this comes from!

​​Weird Stuff? The game is constantly breaking the fourth wall to keep your aware. One of the ways this happens is visually. From swappable graphics, arcade cabinets and code peeking through breaks in the walls, to the office and secret test lounge, to "glitches", you'll see plenty of irregularities! These are meant to keep you from getting to comfortable in the game world; and hopefully get a chuckle or two.

Monsters! Here's where things get expressive. Every last one of the beasties were lovingly crafted by Michael Wright, aka The Quester, aka The Bard of Badassery, etc. These guys are more evocative of perhaps the NES, with big, bold designs that really get in your face.

T​hat'll do it for now. Next up will be music and SFX, with some input from Dya himself. That one will be a lot of fun, so I hope you're looking forward to it!

I'm writing this summary/post-mortem/thing as a supplement of sorts. The Bounty: Deluxe Edition (hereafter mostly referred to as "the game" or "TBDX") is a little hard for me to explain. Despite being my creation, I have the damnedest time actually communicating the ideas the game represents, without someone experiencing it in person. So here goes.

Where it Started, and What it is

Alright, so the beginning. The idea first came to me several years ago, in early 2010. I was taking a break from practicing for a Castlevania world record score, by playing the classic Rogue. This make me think "you know, there should be a role playing game for competitive scorechasing." The train of thought, of course, then stopped at "I should make a role playing game for competitive score chasing". So I did.

Influences

It's impossible to track down every nuance of every game or other media that affected this piece of work, but I can certainly hit the big ones.

Doom- Doom is actually the biggest one, if it sounds odd at first. The secrets, proximity switches, monster closets, light/dark interplay, and general speed of traversal are all here. Doom and Wolfenstein mods were my first experience in any game development back in the mid nineties, so it's not surpising that this game wears that love on its sleeve.

The Legend of Zelda- The Zelda influence is mostly limited to puzzles and ability changing items, the flow and layout of Episode 3, and a few hamfisted references. One of the (FREE, WOW!)post-launch episodes is shaping up to be rather Zelda-like too, but that's neither here nor there.

Rogue- This is where a lot of the concept came from, but it's presence definitely shrank over time. The randomized floors and full-on permadeath is the name of the game for Endless Mode- but the main Story Mode shaped up to be longer and more linear. You've got a fair bit of randomized loot, riddles, and level branching; but purposeful level design and quality of life perks like saving your progress steered the ship over time.

Dragon Quest/7th Saga- The battle system is pretty much Dragon Quest, straight up. The guard-boosting dynamic from 7th Saga makes an appearance as well. It's simple and straightforward with an ebb and flow.

NOT SO MUCH AN RPG?

I've heard the remark that TBDX is an RPG for people who don't like RPGs. I don't think that excludes typical RPG fans- but the assertation is fair, I think! Let's take a look-

I'll note that there are a number of spells and abilities. However, ALL special abilities are delegated to special items. Magic, buffs, special effects, even a support character- are all items, and most of them consumable. You've got Character!

As in, YOU are the character. Your on-screen avatar can be changed by a variety of passwords at any time (a-la Midway arcade games in the mid-late nineties!). This also has NO effect on your player stats, and no effect on the "story" as there really isn't one in the first place. Your actions are the story, so why not have fun with your look?

So, What the hell is it?

The Bounty is an arcade-like RPG. An introspective sci-fi fourth wall breaking competitive indie game? Or a top down action-adventure scorechasing rogue-lite? A stripped down retro RPG with action and puzzle elements? All of the above?

I've heard them all, which makes things really fun and confusing for me, cause I really just see it as "the game". I hope that if and when you play it, you'll enjoy your time based on your experience, and not concern yourself much with genre or buzzwords.

I'll leave off here for today. Join us next time when we talk about Graphics, then Music and Sound Design, and finally a little light tech talk!

-Dave

I'll also be combining all of the parts and snazzing them up with images and such in the end- so if you want anything elaborated upon, let me know and I'll see about adding it in!

]]>Thu, 19 Oct 2017 19:24:49 GMThttp://www.ludicrousones.com/blog/updates-and-more-blogs-incomingThings have been so insanely busy, that I've honestly just neglected the blog. So, let's start from the top.

If you recall the previous post, my father had suffered a stroke, but appeared to be improving.

I'm sad to say that he took a turn for the worse shortly afterwards. After a few more weeks in hospitals and a nursing home, we ended up taking him home on hospice. I took care of him the last couple of weeks until he died.

It's been a very difficult time, to say the least, but work has continued, and we're looking at a Steam release date for The Bounty: Deluxe Edition on November 1st. You can check out a new trailer on the home page. I'll continue working on getting the Steam platform goodies ready-achievements, cloud saves, etc.

Bug Attack! also now has a Steam store ID, and I'll share more on it's launch at a later date.

So, incoming blogs. Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting a series of blog post-mortems for The Bounty. Breaking down the design philosophy, approach, gameplay, the whole nine yards. I hope you look forward to them.

Reason being, my father has suffered a massive stroke. This led to me taking several days off from everything to get things in order and visit him and other family.

His condition is improving- he hasn't truly regained consciousness, but his eyes are open, he's responding to things a little more, and seems to be out of the danger of this being fatal.

So, it's back to it. I'm resuming testing and trailer work on The Bounty: Deluxe Edition, and will roll out the web version of Bug Attack! Free to several portals such as Newgrounds, once it has been updated.

Steam Greenlight is closed and being replaced by Steam Direct, so I need to update some in-game wording. Once that is finished, I want to finish getting two player for mobile (player two uses a bluetooth gamepad, it's rad), and it'll be updated here and published all over the web.

Then we go in big on promotion, launch, and post launch support- and hopefully get some new game announcements made public really soon!

Thank you for your patience and support-​Dave Vogt]]>Sat, 22 Apr 2017 20:02:00 GMThttp://www.ludicrousones.com/blog/promoblog-gameplay-outline-and-screenshotsThe Bounty: Deluxe EditionI figured I'd share some of the things included in the new press kit. So here's the "Gameplay" section of the listing- along with some screengrabs, just because.​Enjoy!

Gameplay

The Bounty blends gameplay styles from traditional JRPGs, Roguelikes, and puzzle games, while adding a deep score system to drive the experience further. Players explore top-down levels full of monsters, hazards, secrets, and treasures. Battles are kept simple and traditional, in the style of Dragon Quest. Your character's attributes level up the way you choose; coupled with balanced gear options, you get an equally challenging, balanced experience while playing your character your way.

In the Story Mode, the player selects their difficulty level, names their character (including secret avatars via codes), and begins their journey through a concise adventure across four episodes. Some levels, treasures, riddles, and monsters are shuffled in each playthrough. This adds variety while retaining the experience of learning the game and maps.

In Casual Mode, the score system is disabled, and the player gains the ability to save freely, including an autosave feature. This mode lets the player enjoy the game at their own pace, and practice to score higher in Competitive Mode.

Competitive Mode is the more difficult primary game mode, with each monster, puzzle, treasure, and secret awarding points. With hundreds of scenarios, secrets, and bonuses, players have a virtually endless challenge awaiting them to get the highest score. Furthermore, completing the game opens Endless Dungeon +, allowing the player to play in the Endless Dungeon with their existing character, pushing their score to never-ending heights.

Endless Dungeon is also selectable as a separate mode. In this mode, players begin with a full loadout of gear and journey through a never-ending, always-changing dungeon. This is the perfect mode to play when you want to get in a quick game but you're short on time!

]]>Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:23:49 GMThttp://www.ludicrousones.com/blog/first-post-in-a-long-while-update-timeHas it really been thislong? Things have been really busy, and I'm admittedly a bit of a hermit. Doing contract educational software work with Legends of Learning has occupied more than a small amount of time as well, of course. We'll just touch base for now, and elaborate in the coming days.

So, what's been going on? The Bounty: Deluxe Edition is now fully complete with the exception of one audio track, some final tests, and Steam achievement integration. This is HUGE, so I'll just leave it understated for now. You'll hear enough about it soon enough.

Boss for Atari 2600 is FINALLY in production, and will be in people's hands as soon as production and shipping allow.

Bug Attack!: Steam Edition is FINISHED. I need to finish re-recording some gameplay footage for a trailer of sorts, then she's going up on Steam Greenlight. That whole thing will see updated free versions for web portals and mobile to help hype it up, so expect a LOT of noise there. I hope you look forward to it. It's by far the most comprehensive Bug Attack! experience yet. Several single and multiplayer modes, fun extras, and it'll be ready to launch as soon as the campaign ends; so get your voices warmed up to help let the world know.

I have plenty more to tell you about, but I'll leave this off here for now. The site is fixed, things are in post production, so I promise it'll be much more frequent. At least for a while. ;)

First off, I want to thank everyone for their support! We're going into the last week, and are already sitting at nearly 200%. My sincere hope is that in this last week, we can at least hit $1500. With your help, we can smash it, I know!

After much consideration and discussion, we've finally got a stretch goal decided upon- Super Boss. Super Boss will be a slightly reworked version, for your PC. Jason and I will be working hand in hand to ensure that it will retain the spirit of the Atari game, while introducing a few minor additions and tweaks.

If we hit this stretch goal and get to build Super Boss, ALL of you folks who have supported the Boss campaign will get a copy, before we officially publish it. We hope to have Super Boss ready for you by the time the cartridge and Collector's Sets ship.

]]>Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:27:57 GMThttp://www.ludicrousones.com/blog/the-bounty-deluxe-edition-testing-updateFun times in development land, folks! As we're in mostly testing at this point, there hasn't been anything exciting to report- but this kind of qualifies!I have discovered some new issues, but have good ideas on how to address them.1. The Bounty:Deluxe Edition runs via WebGL acceleration- so if you have a really aging video card, your frame rates will suffer. Comes with the territory. Problem is, that Windows 10 will sometimes reclassify stock cards, and misidentify things, disabling acceleration when the card could handle it before. Tinkering and trying to find a way to handle it on the software side, so you don't necessarily have to sort it on your end.2. During the process of finding this minor issue, I found a bigger one- a memory leak. The game uses a lot of dynamic lighting and tracks dozens of variables at a time- and currently it keeps stacking that load, rather than clearing it from scene to scene.Basically, if you play for a long period of time, the amount of RAM used will keep climbing. Not good, especially for machines with under 4GB. It's the top priority and will be fixed, of course- but thought you guys and gals might want to know.Till next time, folks!-Dave]]>